The benefits of rapid oil containment are apparent to all who have been, or are engaged in oil pollution clearance, as oil slicks emanating from a point source rapidly spread and splinter into subsidiary slicks. With increasing industrialization, the manufacture and transport of oil and petroleum products have correspondingly increased, leading to an increase in oil spills at sea and at port.
Although some docks now have a conventional oil boom ready to surround a vessel, should an operational spill occur during loading or discharging operations, it should be noted that these conventional booms need only contain a small quantity of oil since operational spills are generally rectified shortly after occurrence. But of even greater importance, there are no adequately sized booms immediately available to a vessel which has a casualty while transiting from sea inbound to berth, or a vessel coasting several miles offshore (i.e., from Maine to New York). The term "immediately available" is of definite importance since although some ports such as Valdez, Ak. now stock miles of boom in shoreside warehouses, one must reasonably assess the time period in which one could transport such a boom via barge to perhaps 50 miles away, and deploy such a boom about a vessel. Four to eight hours would probably be considered a quick response. These factors necessitate oil containment systems which can be deployed around an oil spill site as soon as possible if not immediately after the damage has occurred.
At the present time, large sea going tankers having storage capacities of a hundred thousand tons and more are employed in transporting liquid products such as crude oil or refined petroleum products. The liquid products constitute a dangerous pollution problem should they leak from the tanker since they have a density lower than sea water and will float and be spread over wide areas. These liquid products can cause a fire hazard in shipping lanes, and can seriously pollute and damage coastal areas both above and below the water. When an oil spill occurs it is highly desirable and environmentally imperative to confine the hazardous material to a relatively small area in order to facilitate their recovery or to facilitate neutralizing their pollution effects and the possibility of fire hazard. This requires that the environmentally hazardous liquid product confinement be initiated as soon as possible after the leak has occurred. To permit effective use, it is essential that the confining means be capable of withstanding the forces caused by the wave action of the open seas. Furthermore, it is desirable that the confining means be compact to facilitate on-board storage and/or easy handling for quick deployment around the leakage site. The need has arisen for an oil containment system which can be stored on the oil transporting vessel, and can be quickly deployed to surround the vessel in case of an oil spill.
This invention is concerned with an oil containment system which is specifically designed for the vessel on which it is to be carried, and deflatable to minimize storage space, as well as, being quickly deployable by the first vessel to reach the oil spill site or by the vessel's own lifeboats, or in the case of a tug and towed barge, the tug boat itself. It follows that any system that can be quickly and easily deployed around an oil spill, as well as requiring minimal storage space, will present a unique advancement of the art.